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Monday, October 25, 2010

Passing of a Maven

Old Enough: Yes, I have achieved an age where I am comfortable reading obituaries, especially those in The New York Times. Today, I was saddened and intrigued to read the obituary of Sol Steinmetz:

Sol Steinmetz, a lexicographer, author and tenured member of Olbom (n., abbrev., On Language’s Board of Octogenarian Mentors), whose opinions on matters semantical, grammatical and etymological were widely sought by the news media, died on Oct. 13 in Manhattan. He was 80 and lived in New Rochelle, N.Y.

I haved never read any of Mr. Steinmetz's writing - but I will now. Of how many can it be said:

“He never had a bad word to say about anyone,” said Jesse Sheidlower, the editor at large of the Oxford English Dictionary and a former protégé. “And he knew a lot of bad words.”